Don't be Fooled by Science!

I watched Al Gore present on Monday night at the Epcor Centre. There were protesters outside the building, one dressed like a chicken (I'm not quite sure why), another with a barely legible 'Gore is a Bore' sign (that demonstrated only that the writer could rhyme), and a third with a megaphone that had the sound quality of a fast food drive through speaker system. I support free speech, for the most part, but I get frustrated when it is abused. In this case, the lack of organization, coherency and substance qualify this as an abuse of free speech. But more concerning than that, was the message. I acknowledge that there is a clever and, perhaps, slightly misleading arrangement of fact, opinion, and speculation in Gore's presentation. But this is a successful career politician. I would expect that any rational listener has the capacity to think critically about his message. Whether or not people buy in to every argument is irrelevant - the point is awareness of the issues and the initiation of open discussion on them. It is inconceivably difficult to battle the inertia of the general public, particularly when it involves a change in behaviour. Gore's campaign is showing signs of success in effecting change, one outcome in particular has been a movement toward reducing waste. Waste is morally bad. I believe this is an incontrovertable truth. So, what's the deal with the protesters? Why fight something positive? What are they hoping to accomplish? Perhaps Samantha Bee can shed some light on that.